I. Field
The following description relates generally to communication systems and, amongst other things, to data transmission in a communication system.
II. Background
A technique for broadcasting (by mobility standards) high rate data signals (e.g., high frame rate video) is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). OFDM is a parallel transmission communication scheme where a high-rate data stream is split over a large number of lower-rate streams and transmitted simultaneously over multiple sub-carriers spaced apart at particular frequencies or tones. The precise spacing of frequencies provides orthogonality between tones. Orthogonal frequencies minimize or eliminate crosstalk or interference amongst communication signals. In addition to high transmission rates, and resistance to interference, high spectral efficiency can be obtained as frequencies can overlap without mutual interference.
Multicasting technology for transmission of multimedia has been developed by an industry group of wireless communication service providers to utilize the latest advances in system design to achieve the highest-quality performance. Industry-accepted technologies, such as Forward Link Only (FLO) and Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) are intended for a mobile multimedia environment and is suited for use with mobile user devices. In particular, FLO technology can provide robust mobile performance and high capacity without compromising power consumption. In addition, the technology reduces the network cost of delivering multimedia content by decreasing the number of base station transmitters that are needed to be deployed. Furthermore, FLO technology based multimedia multicasting is complimentary to the wireless operators' cellular network data and voice services, delivering content to the same mobile devices.
Multicast systems support different types of services, such as real-time services, non-real-time services, IP datacast services, and common overhead service. Real-time services involve streaming of media content (e.g., audio, audio and video, and the like). Non-real-time services involve the delivery of media files (clips), which can be stored on a device and accessed by a user during a planned availability period. Non-real-time services can be referred to as clipcast services. IP datacast services are wireless IP multicast services for a wide range of applications. Common overhead services carry system overhead data.
Different types of services call for different Quality of Services (QoS). For example, real-time services have strict latency needs but can tolerate some packet errors. Non-real-time services are intended to be delivered at the devices before the advertised availability period and, therefore, have an associated deadline. Non-real-time services are delivered as files (e.g., clips), and thus, should conform to strict packet error mitigation. QoS necessary for an IP datacast service depends on the application intended on that service. Common overhead service carries important system overhead information that should be received at the device with low acquisition delays. Therefore, common overhead service should have low latency and low packet error rates. In multicast systems, there are various functions that collaborate to achieve the necessary QoS for different services. These functions are collectively termed as resource management functions.
Efficient data communication reduces system latency and error rates. Therefore, what is needed is a technique for providing efficient data communication in a wireless network.